Hiding From the Future
by Sorida
Summary: For Kangarooney's contest! When Prowl died, Bumblebee abandoned everything he once knew. He resigned himself to a lonely existence floating through space. When he decides to return to Earth, how will the team react?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This is before the summary? Weird. However, this part below the note in italics is not of my doing. This fic is for Kangarooney's Continuation Contest! Kangarooney gets all the credit for the idea and I will do my best to extend it. :) Also, I changed the format a tiny bit.**_

* * *

_Summary: We all have seen the fics about Bee running away as soon as he returned to Cybertron. But that's from the team's POV's. What about his own view? And why would he? Was it an instinct? A problem? Was he malfunctioning? Did it have to do with Prowl's deactivation? Was he just scared?_

_Pairings: Prowl/Bee_

_Disclaimer: I do not OWN._

_Rating: T_

_Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Family, Possible hints of Romance_

_Warnings: Bumblebee is LONELY._

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_Bumblebee was probably the only one of them who was actually scared about what was happening._

_What if he was different when he woke up? What if he didn't remember anything? What if, when he saw Bee, he just blamed him for everything? What if...?_

_So here he was. Hidden away. Off on some backwater planet. Far away where no bot could find him. His spark signature was no doubt gone, and they all probably thought him deactivated. But that was fine with him. Even though he didn't know when they were going to attempt it-or if they already had, and succeeded-, he was content to be far away from them._

_His old team. They never liked him. So it made sense why he would leave them when they came back to Cybertron. Besides, Prowl was the only reason he ever really stayed with them. Prowl was like his older brother. The love of his life, and everything else. All mixed into one. He was the only bot Bee could really _

_love. But Bee couldn't have Prowl knowing how weak he was. Knowing that every time Prowl chased him, that Bee was doing it for attention. Bumblebee yearned for constant attention. It was his nature._

_As one of the last mini-bots, no bot-except for his own kind- knew what they needed to thrive. Minibots needed attention. They never had had very high self-esteem. In fact, when one was the only minibot, that one 'bot would require more attention than if that minibot had others of his kind around him._

_Bumblebee knew this, and he knew he needed attention. Even if it was bad attention. As long as he had it, he was happy. Prowl gave him attention. Maybe not intentionally, but he did. And it was good attention. Friendly, warm, comforting. Even if at times Prowl was mean, Bee knew why._

_Which, in a way, all circled back to Bumblebee's current location._

_When Prowl off-lined, Bumblebee had no reason to stay with the team. So he left them when they returned to Cybertron. First, he returned to Earth to be with Sari, because she was a good friend. But as she grew older, her time for him grew less and less. So eventually, he was just holding on to something _

_non-existent. She wasn't going to give him anything else. She had her own family and younglings to care for. Her time for adventuring and pranks was at an end. She had moved on. Bee had to as well._

_So after that, he went off to explore tha galaxy, and then other galaxies. Maybe some other world would have beings which could- and would- give him love. All he ever found was space; cold, empty, dark space. No life. Except maybe those creatures that hated light. He actually spent some time with them. He shut off all his speech capabilities, and powered off his optics. Then he floated around space in one of their groups for a few decades. Evetually though, some other strange creature came along and ate his 'friends', so he had to flee, quick before he was also eaten up._

_Finally, he ended up here. That small backwater planet where no bot would ever expect to find him. Sari was no doubt long gone, Prowl was either already brought back to 'life', or was on his way to reactivation._

_Bumblebee was living in the past. Or hiding from the future. Yeah, that was more like it. He was hidden from everything. He was a solitary mini-bot. In a way, he had finally accepted that attention was too good for him. So solitude was all he was worth..._

* * *

It was strange looking down on the planet he once called home. Large swirling wisps of white gracefully swept across sphere, revealing the blue and green expanse below. The oceans of Earth were an image Bumblebee could never forget. The swelling water and the sounds of it crashing against the shore in a rhythmic cacophony were soothing to the senses. He'd only been to the coastline once or twice with Sari, but he enjoyed and remembered every minute of it. He frowned as the thought passed through his processor.

Sari was still a sore subject for his wounded mentality. He felt that the girl abandoned him, left him to find solace alone, but he could never bring himself to loathe her. Their friendship had been special and one of the best he'd had in his whole life-stream. He was grateful for the memories he made with her, yet grew more depressed. He'd been gone for Primus knows how long. It meant that Sari would be gone too.

So what was his home? Home was a place to return to. Home was a place with a family waiting for you to return. It didn't matter how big it was, what mattered was that someone was there waiting for you. There was someone to care for you. There was someone you could care for.

The humans always said that home is where the heart is. If that was true, then why did he feel so alone? Why did he crave attention? Why couldn't he be proud of himself for once?

All those years alone had possibly done irreversible damage to his psyche. At some point, he retreated so far into his mind that not even a collapsing asteroid could rouse him. He'd been stuck for a while, a servo crushed under the weight of the cave-in. It was then that the true paranoia set in.

For some reason, the ordeal reminded Bumblebee of Prowl's death. The huge pede-falls of the Lugnut Supremes could be heard from at least two states away. Rocks clashing against rocks brought on the memory, leaving him in a trembling heap underneath the rubble. He couldn't remember what actually came out of his voice modulator that day, but he was sure it sounded delusional and scared.

The self-loathing side of him wanted to stay there, off-line where nobody would ever find him or know what had become of him. It assured him that nobody searched for him after his departure from Earth. It told him that nobody cared enough anymore. It knew that there was no point continuing such a miserable existence and it begged for rest.

The self-preservation part of him kicked into gear, forcing his frame into action. It made him clear away the rubble and dig his way out. It screamed at him, demanding survival. It won in the end, but the collapse claimed his servo.

It was his right servo that lost its motor functions. Now, it hung limply at his side, a dead weight. Bumblebee didn't know what to do with it as he lacked sufficient medical knowledge on repairing such damage or for performing an amputation. If there had been a medic with him, there was no doubt in his processor that said field medic would not hesitate to amputate. The procedure and results weren't that bad, you could just get another limb on Cybertron. But leaving it on the frame while it leaked a sufficient amount of energon was a terrible idea.

The large gash running from the shoulder joint to the wrist joint never properly healed. It was still there, serrated yellow metal standing on-edge around the slash. Bumblebee knew he picked up a virus or three from it. A shiver passed through his frame and he fought the urge to cough into open space. The last time he did, a few small beads of oil drifted away from his faceplate. That had caused a major epiphany: if he went untreated any longer, he would die.

The fear rushed into his processor before the submission set in. He didn't want to die. What would happen? Would he meet with Prowl? Would he still be alone? Would he be isolated for all eternity? He was going to die. He was already considered dead anyways, so why not make the rumor true?

His self-preservation had kicked in once again, directing him back towards the only planet that accepted him. There was a minuscule spark of hope that perhaps Sari was still alive. Rationality ruled out that hypothesis, as humans live a much shorter life than Cybertronians. Even so, he still believed in the irrational. Either way, he was returning to the small organic planet and nothing could change that decision. But there was one problem:

How the frag was he going to make it through the atmosphere in one piece?

Last time he went through the atmosphere, he was much closer to the Earth and had Ratchet's electromagnets to break his fall. Optimus was also there to cool down his overheated frame. This time, he had no backup and a worn-down pair of turbo-boosters. Those would just have to do; they were all he had left. His remaining stinger wouldn't do him much good, especially after it started acting up and exploding in his faceplate.

"Well, I can't put this off any longer," Bumblebee whispered to himself. Two panels on his back slid open, revealing the battered turbo-boosters. Pumping them, he drifted closer to Earth and soon felt its gravitational pull. He had made some quick calculations and, if they were correct (oh Primus, please be right), he would end up in or near Detroit.

As he gained speed, fear and excitement welled up in his processor. There was a fairly high chance that his boosters would fly off his body and that he would crash into the ground. He coughed and watched a few blue droplets fly out of his mouth. He was going to die anyway, so why not go out with a bang?

The heat was beginning to eat away at his frame to the point where he thought he could feel the pain in his dead arm. His whole frame was stressed at the sudden heating, armor beginning to crack under the strain. He waited a few more seconds before firing up his boosters. With their exhaust ports towards the ground, he activated them. As he predicted, it slowed his fall. However, he began ascending and had to stop them again. Great, he would have to pump them. He has factored that in before, but it still annoyed him to no end.

By the time he was halfway down, his back plating felt sore. It creaked in protest against the strain the boosters were putting on it. Bumblebee felt as though his entire backside would just fly off, leaving him with a deadly impact to the ground.

His luck began running out once he entered the inner atmosphere. The worst of the entry was over and now he could see the trees of a very familiar forest. He couldn't help smiling at the sight and let out a small triumphant laugh. He could see Detroit and wow, it had changed a lot. Little hovering vehicles were zooming around the city, flying from one place to the other. Sumdac Tower was still there and had remained untouched by the passage of time. Maybe it was a museum now...

Before he could finish his musings, Bumblebee heard a sputter and felt the boosters shaking. He was free falling within seconds. He was baffled, debating whether or not he should pray for survival or beg for death.

He screamed as he hit the ground, watching as clumps of grass flew by his optics. One of his turbo-boosters was ripped off of his back, energon immediately overflowing through the hole. His voice modulator shorted out soon afterwards due to years of disuse.

He could feel armor cracking and his windshield shattering. Once it was all over, he tried to get up only to be met by an onslaught of agony. There was no way he could get out of his newly created crater. He was going to be stuck down there until he off-lined. His morbid side chuckled a bit, stating that it wasn't going to be a long wait. At least he could see the clouds.

He remembered when Prowl would come out to the edge of the forest and just lay down on the grass. When asked, the ninja-bot would explain that he was cloud watching. Sari sometimes decided to join him, pointing to different white puffs while saying what she thought they looked like. To Prowl's surprise, Bumblebee would join in without the usual noise that would accompany him. At first, Prowl had been skeptical of the youngling's motives. Even if Sari wasn't there, he'd always wanted to participate.

Prowl did ask him about it, but the inquiry was met with a small shoulder shrug. The ninja-bot didn't believe that he would receive an answer, but he found Bumblebee alone one day. The youngling appeared stressed and uncomfortable. First of all, it was unusual to find Bee alone at any given time. He was always with someone else or inside the base annoying the Pit out of everyone. This in itself made Prowl curious. So when Prowl asked him what was wrong, the walls weakened. Bumblebee admitted that the whole Wasp thing was freaking him out and that the rest of the team didn't really understand except for Bulkhead. That day, Prowl had given him the attention he needed, the love of a big brother. Of course, they both agreed to never speak of the meeting again and hurried off to their normal routines.

Bumblebee chuckled as a small stream of energon flowed out of the corner of his mouth. He mumbled to himself about what the clouds looked like, deciding to die with a happy memory on his processor. The hum of hover vehicles didn't catch his attention until one of the drivers came sliding down the crater walls and looked him straight in the optics.

"That one looks like...Sari..." He heard a gasp and a cry as his systems finally put him in stasis. His last glance of the world around him was that of a shocked young woman.

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_A/N: That was fun. :) There's my set-up, now to finish it before I leave for camp on the last day of the contest. Yikes…I'm going to have to write fast._


	2. Chapter 2

No way, it couldn't be happening. It couldn't be him. He disappeared a few centuries ago and was assumed to be dead. Well, assumed was the key word in that sentence, but the odds were against the theory. Still, that didn't explain why a big yellow mech just fell from the sky and made a crater the size of a semi-truck right outside of Detroit. Ok, maybe the crater was bigger than a semi...

She had heard the stories from her great-great-grandmother (ok, maybe she missed a few "greats") but this couldn't be him. He was supposed to be child-like, happy-go-lucky, and friendly. He was supposed to be very young and mischievous. He wasn't supposed to be some broken-down model of the 65356-9292-346 body-type, was he?

But there was no doubt in her mind that this was indeed the bot from the stories. This severely damaged mech was definitely Bumblebee.

"Guys, we're going to need a lot of help," she stated. Turning to the young man beside her, she said, "Send a message to Nana and tell her to get in contact with Cybertron. She's in for a big surprise."

"Of course Miss Sumdac," the man replied. Two sets of fierce blue eyes met before breaking apart and concentrating on their separate tasks.

"This is going to be a long day..." the girl mumbled to herself. She cast one last glance on the fallen Autobot and began her assignment.

* * *

"Your relative said what?" Optimus Prime shouted at the monitor. Other members of the Elite Guard gave him an odd look before going about their daily business, oblivious to how shocking the news really was.

"We found him Optimus," Sari confirmed with a smile, "we finally have him back." After a few centuries, the techno-organic hadn't aged as much as an ordinary human. Now, she looked as though she was middle-aged. It was a bit mind-boggling thinking about how Cybertronian technology could alter something, or someone, like that. She had taken to her life-span extension well, even when the professor passed away. After the initial grieving period, Sari admirably continued her father's work and became the official head of Earth-Cybertron relations. Even the Space Bridge was still installed in the Tower.

"I'll find everyone and tell them what happened," Optimus said. "I missed the little guy." Sari smiled.

"We all did Optimus," she replied. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" She chuckled as Optimus fumbled around and switched off the monitor. Turning around, she gazed over the battered, prone form of her friend.

"Grandma, how long has it been?" the girl from before asked, walking around where they had placed the mech as her blue eyes took in all that they could. Her short auburn hair swished from side to side across the back of her neck. Sari watched her with a sad smile.

"Far too long," she replied. "He left when I met my husband and that was a few centuries ago. It's my fault he left; I didn't even realize he was gone until it was too late. When Bumblebee sets his mind to something, he's determined to complete it. Did he see you when he crashed?" The girl looked up, a bit surprised by the question.

"Um...yeah, I think he did. He thought I was you. I didn't mind it so much, but it really made Harry freak out." She chuckled to herself, remembering her friend's discomfort.

"Well, even after the good Captain, the Fanzones haven't relinquished their prejudice against machines." After a moment of silence, the girl spoke again.

"So...when are they going to be here?" she asked.

"Very soon Sami," Sari stood up. "Let's get the Bridge ready."

* * *

"C'mon Ratchet, lighten up!" Arcee shouted over her shoulder joint. "They're just showing their affection for you!" She laughed as she urged the two mechs ahead of her to keep running. She was bringing up the rear, trying in vain to keep the medic's wrench-wrath under control. The keyword there was "trying".

"Yeah! Besides, we know you like pink!" the red one shouted while pointing to the femme behind him. His reply was a wrench to the helm, causing him to stumble slightly.

"You idiot!" the yellow one huffed as he helped his brother catch up. "You're going to make me off-line some day!"

"Whatever Sunny, I know you're more worried about saving your paint job than saving your brother from the wrath of Ratchet." This earned him another blow to the helm.

"Don't call me Sunny! Now run you glitch-head! The door's right there!" As another wrench flew overhead, the brothers ducked through the door and ran through the streets of Iacon. Ratchet leaned against the doorway, groaning.

"Why do they always have to cause trouble?" Arcee just rolled her optics at the rhetorical question.

"I told you, that's how you know they like you," she replied with a smirk. "They're still younglings, they'll grow up eventually." Ratchet gave her an incredulous glance. "Hey, I did say eventually," she defended, raising her servos in submission. The medic smiled, but his optics became distant quickly. Those twins reminded him of another brash youngling, one that left and never returned…

Those twins were around Bumblebee's age and would have been best friends with the yellow prankster. In a way, he was trying to fill the kid's void with two mechs that mirrored him in personality and mannerisms.

"Hey, are you ok?" Arcee asked softly, placing a servo on the medic's shoulder joint. The light touch seemed to jolt him out of his reverie.

"I'm fine," he reassured, but the femme didn't buy it one bit.

"Don't lie to me," she said harshly, but soon soothed her tone again, "you were thinking about him, weren't you?" The silence was all the answer she needed. "I wish I got to know him as well as you did, he seemed like a fun kid; a bit inventive too, planting a spy-cam in my helm in order to stage a rescue. It was so overt, it was covert." She chuckled to herself. "Ratchet, it hasn't been too long. I'm sure you'll find him."

"Arcee, I stopped believing in happy endings a long time ago," Ratchet stated. "When I found you and restored your memory, that spark of hope just crept up on me again. But we lost Prowl and when Bumblebee disappeared, it just proved me right." The silence fell between them again as various mechs and femmes passed by their doorway.

"Ten million credits says you're wrong," Arcee finally said, a playful smirk on her faceplate.

"Ten million says I'm right," Ratchet countered. Before Arcee could come up with a suitable comeback, the communications monitor in the building alerted them to an incoming message. Walking towards it, Ratchet noticed that it was from the Elite Guard. What the frag did those stuck-up brats want with him? Didn't they know the meaning of retired? Ok, he wasn't retired per say, but he wasn't a field medic anymore.

Without further hesitation, he accepted the message. "This better be slaggin' important," he said gruffly, not caring who was on the other line just yet. When he saw Optimus' faceplate, he nearly toppled over.

"Glad to see you to Ratchet," the Prime greeted with a smile.

"Prime…what?" Ratchet stuttered out, taken aback by the incredibly unexpected message. He hadn't heard any word from the old team since a little while after their scout's vanishing act. They had all just split up, gone their separate ways. And by all, he meant the three remaining team members.

"I know this is unexpected, but I just got a transmission from Earth. Ratchet…they found him. Bumblebee crash landed about two Earth hours ago. Sari's got him at Sumdac Tower and they're prepping a Space Bridge for us."

"Prime, that's impossible! Nobody knew where the kid went! Is Sari sure it's Bumblebee?" Ratchet couldn't believe his audio receptors.

"I know, but he's back on Earth and yes, Sari's sure it's Bumblebee. She told me to tell you that she's old, she's not blind." Yep, that sounded like her. "We're going to Bridge to Earth. How fast can you get to the Spacebridge Nexus?"

"In a few breems, give or take."

"Good, I'm going to contact Bulkhead. It's going to be nice to see everyone again." Optimus smiled.

"Yeah, it will be. See you soon." Ratchet quickly ended the message, letting all the information sink into his processor. Bumblebee was on Earth. Bumblebee was alive.

A tapping on his shoulder brought him back to Cybertron. Arcee was tapping her pede against the floor, looking quite smug. "Ratchet, I believe you owe me ten million credits."

Frag it.

* * *

"Bulkhead, you coming?" Glyph asked the mech planted before the monitor.

"Yeah, just give me another minute," he replied, watching his search load on the screen.

"You're still trying to find him, aren't you?" She didn't have to ask to know the answer. Ever since she met him, he had run a search every solar cycle. It always came up blank.

"He's out there somewhere, I just know it." Bulkhead turned towards the femme. "I just can't give up on him that easily. I've got to do something!"

"I know, I know," Glyph said, sitting beside him. "What was he like?" It was weird to talk about Bee like he was dead. Well, he actually might be…no, no thinking like that.

"To be honest, he could be a bit obnoxious at times. You know, all in-your-face about things," Bulkhead sighed. "But…Bee was one of the best friends you could ever have. He'd never abandon you once you got his friendship. Once you got his trust, you knew that he'd stand by you for anything." They sat in silence until someone pinged Bulkhead's comm.-link.

"Bulkhead, it's Optimus," the Prime said. "Can you let me through? There's something I have to tell you." He seemed almost…impatient? No, excited was more like it.

"Yeah, sure," Bulkhead replied, typing a code into the computer beside him. "Is it ok if Glyph is here too?"

"Well, it's a little late for that," Optimus said, walking into the room. "You have to prepare a space bridge to Earth."

"Did you get clearance from Ultra Magnus?" They could both get in trouble for this, a lot of trouble.

"I contacted him on the way here. He understands perfectly and wants us to go." Bulkhead shrugged and began prepping Spacebridge 5.

"So, why are you going to Earth? Does Sari need help with something?"

"You're coming too and you could say that she needs help." Now Bulkhead was beyond confused. Enough with the vague answers already!

"What's going on?" he asked, entering the last of the commands into the space bridge. Glyph watched the whole exchange curiously.

"Bulkhead," Optimus started, "Bumblebee crash-landed right outside of Detroit. He's back, but he's in rough condition. I'll need to tell Ratchet more once he gets here."

"What did you forget to tell me?" the medic inquired as he walked through the doorway.

"How'd you get in here without me having to let you in?" Bulkhead asked.

"I let him in," Glyph responded. "I noticed that someone was outside and I recognized Ratchet. Since Optimus Prime is here, I assumed it was something important."

"Now, what were you saying Prime?"

"From what Sari could see, Bumblebee's right servo is completely ruined. He probably has some other things wrong with his system, especially after the crash. He's been gone for a long time and there's no doubt in my processor that there's more we should be worrying about."

"Did Sari or anyone else notice open injuries?" He hoped that the answer was negative.

"Yes," Optimus sighed. "There's a large gash running up his servo. Nobody knows how long it's been like that, but it can't be good."

"The kid probably picked up a virus or two. We need to get there fast. Knowing Bumblebee's lack of self-maintenance, his servo's been damaged for a while," Ratchet huffed, walking towards the now operational space bridge. "You kids coming or what?" Optimus nodded, following after the medic. Bulkhead cast a glance at Glyph, who smiled in return.

"Go," she said, waving a servo at him, "It sounds like he's going to need your company."

"Do you want to come?" It was just polite to offer. He knew how much Glyph wanted to go to Earth, but her job didn't really allow her to. There was nothing related to Cybertronian history to be found on the organic planet.

"No, this is personal for you. I'll just continue my research at home until Tap-Out decides to drag me around Iacon. There's a lot I have to catch up on. You know where to find me when you come back." Bulkhead nodded and quickly caught up to the older mechs.

"Everyone still have their Earth modes?" Optimus asked. He was met with affirmative replies as the blue hue of the space bridge lit up the surrounding area.

"It's set for Sumdac Tower," Bulkhead added.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get the kid back," Ratchet said, immediately entering the bridge. Bulkhead went next, worry and happiness filling his processor. Optimus jumped last. Despite knowing the most, he was afraid of what damage Bumblebee had taken. He knew about the servo, but how bad had the landing been? How many viruses were in his system? What if they couldn't save him?

No, Ratchet would fix him and Bumblebee would laugh at them for ever doubting his ability to survive. Everything would work out. Everything would be fine.

But there was always that chance of everything going wrong.

* * *

_A/N: Yep, I'm definitely going to have to speed write my way through this! XD Ha, not that funny…_

_Anyways, I'm going to try to update Egress, 365 (yes, I'm still working on that), and whatever other stuff I can before Sunday. Goal: complete this and Egress by Saturday night. Challenge = Accepted_


End file.
